1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a wheel, and more particularly to a vehicle wheel, such as a bicycle wheel, which is incorporated with a wheel axle centrifugal adjusting arrangement such that a wheel axle of the vehicle can be connected with the wheel in an adjustably movable manner.
2. Description of Related Arts
A conventional vehicle, such as a bicycle or a tricycle, comprises a vehicle frame, a driving unit, such as a mechanical transmission system, supported by the vehicle frame, and at least two wheels each of which rotatably connected to the vehicle frame via a wheel axle which is driven to rotate by the driving unit.
As a matter of fact, for such a conventional vehicle, the wheel axle is usually coaxially connected with the respective vehicle wheel in order to maintain maximum stability of the vehicle while it is moving. Very often however, due to the special applications of a particular vehicle, there may be a need to adjust the relative position of the wheel axle and the vehicle wheel such that the vehicle wheel, while it is driven to rotate, is centrifugally rotating with respect to the wheel axle. Therefore, the vehicle is adapted to achieve a predetermined pattern of movement.
The problem here lies not with the advantages and disadvantages of having the wheel axle coaxially or eccentrically connected to the vehicle wheel. Both connection modes achieve substantially different objectives. The major difficulty lies with the manner in which the vehicle axle connects to the vehicle wheel.
Conventionally, almost all vehicles only allow their wheels either coaxially or centrifugally connecting to the vehicle wheel. Manual adjustment to either mode of the connection is generally unavailable. Accordingly, when a user desires to have both kinds of vehicles, he/she has to buy it one by one without many other options.
Recently, the vehicle has been improved in which the wheel axle is adjustably connected to the vehicle wheel. While such vehicle generally overcomes the above-mentioned difficulty, unfortunately, it creates other problems. For example, the connection between the wheel axle and the vehicle wheel is usually very complicated so that when one is trying to adjust the vehicle wheel from coaxial connection to centrifugal connection or vice versa, some tools must be used and very often, a considerable amount of forces have to be applied for releasing the original connection before the adjustment can be done. After the adjustment, yet considerable amount of forces have to be used again for securing the new connection for keeping subsequent operations of the vehicle safe and stable.
On the other hand, it should be admitted that there are still some vehicles, especially toy vehicles, in which the vehicle wheel is adjustably connected to the respective wheel axle. Since they are inherently toy vehicles, the adjustment is usually become too simple to the extent that even a young child is capable of adjusting the vehicle wheel without any difficulty. In this situation, it may be unsafe to let the child alone with the vehicle because the child may not be able to correctly appreciate the effect of adjusting the position of the wheel axle with respect to the vehicle wheel.
Accordingly, the mechanism of such conventional vehicles is either too complicated or too simple for the user to adjust with respect to the vehicle wheels and the corresponding wheel axle. Thus one can see the difficulty in striking a balance between the complicity and the safety issue, bearing in mind the marketing strategy of the vehicle in question. For example, a too sophisticated mechanism cannot be incorporated into a toy vehicle because it would unduly increase the manufacturing cost and the ultimate selling price of the toy vehicles, thus sharply reducing its competitive edge against competitors in the marketplace.